Samsung Rugby A837 / Reviews

I am a gorilla with cell phones and must admit that this phone is exceptionally sturdy. I carry it in my pocket, and, unlike other phones, no dust/lint gets into the display. I have used it outside in the rain/dust while coaching soccer with no problems. The keyboard is sturdy. The phone feels like one could use it for a wheel chock. My daughter refers to it as "the tank". I have dropped it onto a hardwood floor a number of times, and, while it did not leave a smoldering crater in the floor like I sort of expected, it also continued to function without issue. The speaker and microphone are excellent, and I use it in speakerphone mode frequently without compromise. The camera is, well, a cell phone camera, and probably not the tool with which to take wedding pictures. I generally go five days on a battery charge.

My complaints about the phone are with the software, in particular, the T9 implementation. It does not seem to adapt well, i.e., it always types 'an' and I always have to correct it to 'am'. When I add two spaces after a question mark, it enters a question mark followed by a period followed by a space (i.e., Are you annoyed?. ). I'm not sure what form of English uses that. Sometimes, the T9 suggests gobs of letters/numbers that aren't even a word, but I can hit the + key to get it to suggest real words. It usually gets it right.

This phone replaced a Nokia 6085, which had excellent software, so this phone felt like a step down in capability. However, I like this phone because it feels like it will last forever. A firmware update could make it perfect.

Read original review at Amazon.